A New Way To Cope
by Charlight
Summary: Arthur is the new kid in class and Alfred wants to get to know him. However, their first meeting isn't exactly like Alfred hoped. It's hate at first sight rather than love, but Alfred doesn't give up that easily. Especially not when Arthur seems to be hiding some demons behind his sharp defences.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1  
** They were at the beginning of their junior year when the British boy made his first appearance. Ever since he set foot inside the classroom, Alfred couldn't help but to wonder who he was. He sat alone in class, since there now was an uneven number of students, but the boy didn't seem to mind. He was always dressed neatly and appeared to be the definition of a good student. The only thing that seemed out of place was his hair, which always stuck out on basically all sides of his head. His eyes were a brilliant shade of green, almost emerald like and the boy had a fair complexion. His British accent was so thick, that he couldn't possibly have lived here for more than a month or two.

Alfred had noticed all these things about the new kid, but he hadn't spoken a word to him yet. Today, that was going to change. When the bell rang Alfred practically threw his books into his bag and stormed out of the classroom, following the boy who always seemed to disappear into thin air when the lesson was over. He spotted the guy in the middle of a crowd making their way towards the cafeteria. He was short, Alfred noticed, yet he didn't seem out of place in the group of senior-year-students. After following the pupils into the cafeteria, Alfred realised the boy wasn't there anymore. He must've taken a turn somewhere when Alfred wasn't paying attention.

"Damnit," Alfred muttered to himself as he turned around and took a detour. He passed several classrooms as he made his way through the magnificent building in search of the nameless boy. When he passed one of the exits that lead towards the schoolyard, he decided to turn back and check outside. He was surprised when he was met with the back of a very familiar, yet still unknown boy.

Slowly Alfred approached the boy, walking around him to face him. That's when he noticed the smoke rising into the air, emanating from the cigarette between the boy's lips.  
"Ya know you're not allowed to smoke on school grounds, right?" Alfred started, his tone was friendly despite the warning, his gaze focussed on the cigarette between the boy's thin lips.

The boy took the cigarette between his fingers for long enough to speak, the sarcasm was literally dripping off his words. "Nice to meet you too." Then the cigarette took its previous place again.  
"Ya could get into serious trouble, y'know? Besides, it's bad for you." Alfred tried.  
The boy slumped in an annoyed manner, taking an unnecessarily long drag from his cigarette.  
"My name is Alfred, I'm in your math class. What's your name?" Alfred introduced himself in a friendly manner, although the boy didn't seem to be in the mood for small talk.  
"What do you care?"  
Alfred took a step closer before taking the cigarette out of the boy's lips, holding it away from him as he spoke. "A lot. What's your problem?" He asked, getting slightly annoyed with the rude student.  
"Obviously _you_ are, you twat!" The boy made a move to get his cigarette back, but Alfred backed away. "Will you just mind your own bloody business and let me smoke my fucking cigarette?"  
"No! Why're you so rude? I thought British people were supposed to be polite!" Alfred sounded honestly surprised while making his statement.  
"Fine! Ugh, you wanker." The boy whined, "I am Arthur, it is a pleasure to meet you." The sarcasm was still very present. "Now may I _please_ have my cigarette back? It's my last one."  
"Nice to meet you, Arthur. And no, you cannot. Didn't I tell you smoking is not allowed?"  
When the boy opened his mouth to make a snarky remark the door Alfred had previously come through swung open and revealed Mr. Grimes. Their English teacher first didn't seem to notice anything was off as he passed them to make his way to the parking lot, but he stopped in his tracks as soon as he smelled the smoke from the cigarette and turned towards Alfred, who was still holding the cigarette away from the boy's reach.  
"Mr. Jones, smoking on school grounds?" He asked in a stern voice. Arthur was about to speak up when Alfred beat him to it. "I am." His voice was steady, although he had to try really hard to retain that confidence.  
The teacher sighed deeply, "You know very well that is not allowed, strict forbidden even."  
Alfred swallowed nervously, trying to think of any sort of excuse. "I'm sorry sir, I will put it out immediately." And he did, throwing the cigarette to the ground, killing it with the heel of his shoe and then throwing it in the bin next to the door. He smiled nervously, hoping in vain to avoid any sort of punishment.  
"To the principal's office, Jones. Your parents will hear about this." _Damn,_ that man never did take anything lightly. After the teacher took Alfred back inside, Arthur was alone, unable to react other than to stare after the student with his mouth hanging open. _Had that stranger really just taken the blame?_

Alfred was waiting outside the principal's office. It wasn't like he had never been there before, but he was still nervous. This was, however, the first time he was here for something he didn't actually do.  
"Mr. Jones," Principal Christensen began when he opened the door to his office, "I can't say I'm surprised to see you. Come in." Alfred followed the man and sat silently in the chair opposite the principal, like he had done so many times before in his three years of high school. He had often found some way to stir up the class, pick a fight with a student from the year above him or start a food fight in the cafeteria, therefore it would be an understatement to say he spent quite some time at the principal's office.  
"I must admit, Jones, that I didn't expect to see you for violating this particular school rule, let alone at the very beginning of the year." The principal sighed deeply, shaking his head as he looked at Alfred. "Why, Jones? Where did it go wrong?" Alfred wanted to speak up, to tell the truth, but he knew that meant the other boy would get suspended. And really, it's not like Alfred's reputation could be damaged by something like suspension. What he was really worried about was his parents. "If you had come here because of another food fight or ruckus in the cafeteria, you know I would've let you off with detention. Now, I'm going to have to contact your parents, think of a proper suspension time and you know neither of us want to waste our time on that." The principal seemed at a loss of words for a moment, then continued, "You're a good kid, Alfred, I know that, but your parents will hear about this."

After one last disappointed look from his principal Alfred was allowed to leave while the principal contacted his parents.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:** _  
_Alfred hadn't even set one foot inside the house when he heard his father's furious voice yelling from the living room. "Alfred?!" With a sigh he dropped his schoolbag in the hallway and reluctantly made his way towards his parents. They were both seated on the couch in the living room; his father sitting up straight with anger evident on his face, whereas his mother wore a worrisome look, her hands folded in her lap as she fiddled with her wedding ring.

"Son, take a seat." Alfred obeyed his father without question, knowing fully well what this was about.

"Look, I can explain, pa." Alfred held up his hands, a gesture that said 'please don't yell at me'.  
"Well, please do, son." His tone was threatening. Alfred had to swallow twice before he could get out the words. He was close with his father, but he never did handle him well when he was angry. He just wouldn't listen to reason. And when he did, he would wave it off as 'bullshit'.  
"Look, pa, I wasn't smoking. I promise I don't smoke, honestly!" The words were spoken calmly, opposite of how Alfred was feeling.  
"If you don't smoke, then why did the principal call us? Telling us our son was seen with a lit cigarette. Alfred, I am honestly disappointed in you! Not just for smoking, but for lying to us about it, too!" His father kept ranting on and Alfred couldn't get a word in between.  
"Will you PLEASE just listen to me, for once, dad?! I _don't_ smoke. I swear on my life! I was..."  
Suddenly Alfred realised that telling the truth would eventually lead to his parents calling the principal and Arthur being suspended. He fell silent, unsure of how to deal with the situation. He sort of wanted to come clean, let Arthur handle his own mess, but he couldn't help still wanting to give the Britt a chance.  
"You were what?" His mother piped in, her voice soft and fragile.  
"I was holding it for a friend." He knew the truth sounded idiotic. Though he preferred his parents thinking he was an idiot over them thinking he was a smoker.  
"None of your friends smoke, Alfred! We know those boys. Now will you just tell us the truth, please?" His mother was obviously playing good cop, calming his dad and taking over the interrogation.  
"Mom, I am telling the truth. I was holding it for a friend, and I didn't want them to be caught smoking, so I took the blame." His parents fell still after this statement. They didn't speak or even hum in response. It took a full minute for his father to speak up.  
"And who might this friend be?" Alfred just shook his head. He wasn't selling Arthur out, even if he was a jerk. He hadn't even given him a proper chance yet, and Alfred truly believed he was actually a nice guy.  
"Alfred," His mother began again, "please just tell us. Do you have any idea how a suspension looks on your school record?"  
Alfred stood up, backing away from his parents. "If you don't want to believe me, that's fine. But this is the truth, and it's all you're gonna get." As he walked up the stairs with his bag over his shoulder, he silently praised himself for sounding so controlled. Really, his hands were shaking. His parents were disappointed in him. _God, he was in trouble.  
_

Once upstairs his brother met him with an unsure smile. "Grounded?" He had been listening in on their conversation. Although, he couldn't do much else since everyone had been practically screaming downstairs. Alfred shrugged and walked past his brother, putting his stuff in his room before dropping down face-first on his bed. His brother, Matthew, sat down at the edge of the bed and nudged him in his side. Alfred just let out a groan in response.  
"Want to talk about it?" Matthew offered. Alfred sat up and crossed his legs, facing his brother.  
"I don't even know if I'm grounded, I mean, probably, but still, I didn't do anything!" Alfred was just throwing out his frustrations rather than telling Matthew what really happened. "I mean, sure, I got suspended, but that doesn't mean my parents should ground me too! They didn't even listen to me! I'm _not_ a smoker! You believe me, right?"  
Matthew frowned slightly, speaking up after Alfred was done ranting. "Alfred, if you weren't smoking, then what _were_ you doing with that cigarette?"  
It took Alfred a moment to find the right words to explain. "You know that new guy, the one with the British accent?" Matthew nodded after a moment of thought. "Well, I met him today. He's rude, and he's short-tempered and he didn't listen to anything I said! I caught him smoking in the schoolyard and I took the blame when Mr. Grimes walked in on us." Matthew was silent again, like he usually was, but more in a thoughtful way this time.  
"Al, if he was that rude to you, then why didn't you just let him get suspended? I'm sorry but I really don't get your motive."  
Alfred's expression softened, his shoulders relaxed as if all his cropped up anger was suddenly replaced with adoration. "I can't help but to think he is that way because something is bothering him, you know? I just… He seems like he's secretly a really nice guy, and I didn't want to ruin his first year here by getting him suspended."  
"Alfred, with all due respect but _he_ 's the one who got _you_ suspended."  
"I know." Alfred sighed. "Don't tell on him, okay? Please?" His brother reluctantly promised, then gave Alfred a hug and got up off the bed.  
"Do you want me to ask Francis or Gilbert to kick his ass for you?" Matthew was like the typical brother, always looking out for Alfred like Alfred did for him, except Matthew wasn't brave or strong enough to kick someone's ass, so he needed someone to do it for him.  
"That's alright little bro, I think I can handle that grumpy Britt myself."

Three days later Alfred set foot on school property again. His suspension hadn't been too long, probably because the principal took pity on him. He was very aware of the eyes on him as he entered the building and made his way towards his locker. Most students probably knew he had been suspended, rumours like that always got around one way or another.  
When Alfred was finished putting his books away he closed the door of his locker, and Arthur was revealed standing next to him.  
"Hello lad," He said in his British accent, voice calm and a small smile on his face. "Do not hit me before I say this." He held up a hand as if he expected to be punched in the face. Alfred couldn't fight the smile on his face nor the chuckle that escaped him. "I won't," he said, "I think." He finished unsurely, looking up at the ceiling as if in thought.

Arthur playfully hit his shoulder before getting back to business. "Look, uh," he shook his head as he searched for the right words, "thank you, for, you know..." His words came out slow and with pauses.  
"Taking the fall for you and getting myself suspended?" Alfred offered, though he was smiling cheekily, indicating he was not mad.  
"That, for one." Arthur actually had to hold back a chuckle. This Alfred-guy seemed okay. Really okay. "But also just for warning me in the first place. I should have listened and I acted like a jerk, so my apologies."

"I knew ya were secretly not a complete dick." Alfred said, almost accusingly.  
"Oh, shut it!" Arthur snapped, "I never did introduce myself properly; my name is Arthur Kirkland. You were Alfred, right?"  
"Alfred F. Jones." Alfred clarified when he shook Arthur's hand.  
"I really am sorry for before. That was horrible of me. I tend to get cranky when I haven't had my smoke." Arthur avoided eye contact with Alfred, probably too embarrassed about his rude behaviour to do so. That, or he knew already that looking into Alfred's blue eyes would make him lose himself.  
"Yeah, I noticed." Alfred rubbed the back of his neck while trying to get eye contact with Arthur. He was really handsome, Alfred noticed while doing so. "Want to hang out later?" he blurted out.  
Arthur finally looked into his eyes, confusion written all over his face. _He had scolded this guy, gotten him suspended and he still wanted to hang out?_ "Maybe later." He answered without giving it a second thought.

Alfred smiled sweetly, biting his lip as he answered, "Good, then I'll see you after school." And then he left.  
 _Wait what? He said "maybe later", right? Or did he only think that?_ Arthur completely missed the piercing sound of the school bell as he held a debate inside his head. It wasn't until the hallways got empty that he hurried towards his next class.


End file.
